Braxton “Perry” Smallwood age 44, loved to fly. As a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, he flew F-111’s based in Turkey and F-16’s at nearby Nellis Air Force Base during his 20 year military career. After honorably retiring from duty and an 8-year hiatus from aviation, Smallwood was hired by Las Vegas Airlines in February 1991 to fly sightseeing air tours over the Grand Canyon.

Over the preceding ten months with Las Vegas Airlines, Smallwood would gain experience by either observing or flying to and from North Las Vegas Airport and Grand Canyon Airport. The tour itinerary was simple, air tour over, stopping at the canyon’s south rim to look over the edge, buy souvenirs, have lunch, and then a quick direct flight back to Las Vegas. Most tourists, exhausted from the long day, would sleep on the return leg.

On December 10, 1991, Captain Smallwood departed Grand Canyon Airport with four French tourists. The 3:00 PM return departure was made in relatively clear weather. The flight was uneventful as Smallwood approached Temple Bar Marina. Off the nose, a band of low clouds, heavy rain and low visibility replaced the canyon’s blue skies. Flying over Lake Mead and dodging clouds, Smallwood was trying to find a break in the weather, but It just wasn’t there.

With only 35 miles from the destination, the push for Smallwood to “press on” was no doubt with him. Compounding the pressure was the incentive to complete the flight as Las Vegas Airline’s policy was that pilots were only paid if they made it to the destination (An issue in the 1983 accident investigation of Las Vegas Airlines Flight 88).

Air Traffic Controllers in Las Vegas watching the Piper’s wandering and spotty radar track, cleared the flight into controlled airspace. Shortly thereafter, controllers noticed the flight turn south and descend towards the eastern ridge of Mount Wilson. Minutes passed with controller’s repeated and unsuccessful attempts to contact the flight. A missing aircraft alert was issued, but with low clouds, low visibility, and increasing darkness, the search would have to wait until morning. At daybreak the wreckage was located on the 4,800 foot level of Wilson Ridge. There were no survivors in this Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accident.

To call this a Grand Canyon mishap is a stretch in geography, but in the days following the accident, the news media, hungry to fuel the ongoing air tour debate labeled the tragedy a “Grand Canyon Accident” ignoring the fact that it occurred forty miles west of the park’s boundaries. I will include it as Grand Canyon Aviation Archaeology to maintain the historical context.

Locating this accident site was difficult. The one large fragment remaining at the site blends in easily with the terrain and during certain times of the day with either light or shadow is completely invisible from the air. I was fortunate to have a private aircraft available when I spotted the wreckage on an overcast day. The crash site is located on a very steep and unstable topography of loose rock and boulders. Often the slope grade exceeded 65 degrees.

Unlike the wreckage of Las Vegas Airlines Flight 88 in Grand Canyon, most of the wreckage from LVA Flight 50 was recovered. Absent is the aircraft's tail section, most wing structures, landing gear, seats, and both engines. The remaining wreckage is comprised of a few fragments of fuselage and wing structure, engine components, cockpit components, and personal effects. An intense burn area and debris scatter was present during my visit.

Catastrophic aircraft accidents are inherently messy and much of the cleanup process varies depending on the remoteness of the site. It's not surprising to find discarded shredded and burned clothing articles.

After partially climbing the cliff, I was able to see that the fragment was the aircraft's overhead fuel gauge panel.

The panel included quantity gauges for both the left and right fuel tanks. The center indicator was an ammeter with two press-to-test buttons for the alternators.

The small ledges of the cliff contained structural fragments of the aircraft as well as pieces of the aircraft's cockpit flight instruments and gauges.

The pilot's left side flight instrument panel was found torn and nearly folded in half from the impact.

On the center of the panel, a small broken ON-OFF switch labeled "Radar Altimeter" leads me to wonder if Capt. Smallwood was using this terrain alerting equipment and if he did, was the warning too late?

It appears that most of the cockpit or forward fuselage was projected above the impact point and came to rest at the base of a small cliff probably not more than 100 feet from the crest of the ridge.

The left corner of the pilot's instrument panel featured a limitation placard as well as space for a clock, windshield wiper controls, and a master switch for the aircraft's Flight Director instrument.

Based on the information from this fragment, the aircraft was equipped with Piper's AltiMatic V F/D-1 Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS). At the time of development, it was one of the most advanced auto-pilot systems used in general aviation aircraft.

A portion of the elevator trim wheel and a blue knob used on one of two levers that control propeller RPM. These were the only components located at the site from the aircraft's pedestal and throttle quadrant.